Secrets in the Fall out Shelter
by ForeverAlways1114
Summary: A Christmas lung fungus brings many secrets to light to the inhabitants of the Jeffersonian
1. Chapter 1

Rating-K

Disclaimer-Not mine, Joss Whedon and Hart Hanson

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're saying that we're stuck here over Christmas? Look, you know, I have… places to go, you know? I have obligations," Booth said to the man in the suits.

The FBI agent groaned as everybody began to bicker and suddenly blame him for bringing him the body. He told them he was just doing his job, but he knew it was. If only he wasn't so rushed to get work done? All he had to do was fill out an extra paper or two and this mess would not be happening.

Or he should have stayed at the party with Angela.

The meds began to fog his mind and Booth started to laugh as he saw little lights twinkling on the ceiling. Sleeping bags were delivered and everyone parted ways to sleep this nightmare away.

Booth should have known that sleep never came when he wanted it too. He asks Goodman about the twinkling lights in the sky and the only thing he says in return is that he is stoned. Stoned is good though, he thinks, at least when you're stoned the pain in his heart dulls a little.

Goodman and he start to talk about Christmas and Booth smiles at the picture of him and his family. In return he takes out the picture in his pocket and shows it off. Responding to the picture Goodman tells him how cute his son is. Booth can only agree and begins to engage in a small rant about how Christmas is one of the only times he gets to see his son.

Lights begin to twinkle again and the conversation is ended.

_Three…Two…One_ Booth counts in his head and walks over to Bones who is glancing at particulates. All he wanted was to get somebody in the Christmas mood and if it was the only good thing that would come out of this Bones would believe in Christmas.

With his mission in mind he walks up to Bones and discusses the case for a moment before getting to the point, "You don't seem too upset about missing Christmas."

"Indications are that Christ, if he existed, was born in late spring and that the celebration of his birth was shifted to coincide with the pagan rite of the winter solstice so that early Christians weren't persecuted," she tells him and Booth laughs sarcastically.

"What are you the Christmas Killer?" In response she tries to say it's the truth and Booth ends up getting even more annoyed. "It sounds like the truth 'cause it's so rational, right? But, you know, the true truth is that you just- you hate Christmas, so you just spout out all these facts and you ruin it for everyone else."

"All I do is tell the truth Booth, I don't ruin it with facts. If you don't like it then how should I spend my Christmas?"

"Christmas is the perfect time to reexamine your standing with, you know…"

"A helicopter?"

"Oh, right, right. You can't measure the man upstairs in a beaker, so he can't possibly exist."

"The man upstairs?"

Booth groans, this is getting little too ridiculous. "Yes Bones, if you can believe in an invisible fungus than why can you not believe in God?"

"Whatever Booth, I have a murder to solve. Why don't you just go say some prayers and try to get God to forgive you for being a sniper."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh I can read you like a book Booth. You feel guilty for something, more than likely killing people as a sniper. That's why you think Christmas is a good time to get in his imaginary good book."

"You make it so hard to be nice to you," Booth tells her and turns around and goes back to his sleeping bag. However he can't sleep. His thoughts were too filled with screams of torture, death, despair, and massive rivers of blood.

Booth was working out the next morning when he heard everyone try to get Christmas and Christmas Eve to feel like Christmas. They began talking about a Secret Santa and he agreed that could lift people's spirits. Plus he never really participated in one before; he was more into personal gifts.

All of them are debating how to hand names out and the agent starts to laugh at them. Everyone stares at him as he hands over his hat filled with names. After he explains it they all agree that was a good idea and pick out a name. Sometimes these squints were annoying, but they were definitely entertaining.

After that the case became precedent and Booth spent a large portion of the day making phone calls and sorting through evidence. When life sucks, work can be a great distracter. He knew that more than most people. Of course some people had to mess things up though.

He and Bones were just talking about the case when out of the blue she asked him if he really did have a son. Most definitely not the can of worms he wanted opened right now.

"Yes I do is that a problem?"

"No, but we are partners Booth! We tell each other stuff like that."

"It never seemed like the right time," he tells her. Or the right story to get people to trust him, he adds silently.

"Booth, why now?"

"Hey nothing brings people together like a Christmas lung fungus," he shrugs and goes back to the case. However before he goes to find Goodman for help he makes a pit stop to ask Angela for a favor.

Christmas Eve dinner started pretty decent. Chinese food was one of Booth's favorites and Christmas Eve was better than Christmas in some ways. He wished he was spending it with different people, but it wasn't too bad.

Except for Brennan. Now she had the nerve to talk about how Christmas was a myth and how the Jesus story matched the case because she had a child and was unwed. He really hated people talking shit about his religion. No, shit was fine, but what Brennan was doing was ridiculous.

"I can understand why you'd be sensitive, Booth. You have a child out of wedlock," Brennan tells him and he has to calm down before answering.

Angela is trying to get Brennan to apologize, but he steps in, "It wasn't out of wedlock."

"What!" everyone exclaims. Nobody can remember him ever saying anything about a woman in his life.

"I said I didn't have him out of wedlock."

"What happened did she die or did you get divorced?" Brennan asks.

"Sweetie," Angela sighs.

"Neither. We are happily married. Now can we get back to the case please?" he pleads.

Luckily everybody senses his discomfort and drops the subject. Booth sighs, his friend, they seemed more than coworkers these days, did not need to hear about him and his family. More than that it hurt him to think about too much, and this Christmas fiasco was already enough pain for now.

One by one visitors come to the door and Booth looks at the door longingly awaiting the arrival of his son. At the moment he spends his time trying to figure out their families. He figured it could be rude, but hey what else was someone supposed to do in this lab?

Goodman seemed to be the family man that he always tried to be. Booth loved his son, and his son loved him; but sometimes he figured he could never put the guilt away. And that guilt could be bad for him. His little girls were cute though, and it showed a different side of the administrator.

Zach's family was exactly what Booth imagined them to be. A huge family, with everyone who could get here talking to him. The youngest squint laughed and Booth noticed he looked happier than he had ever seen him before.

When he saw Hodgins' girlfriend Booth had to do a double take. The entomologist had not been kidding at how smoking she was. If he had been into tall brunettes he would have to deal with a very angry Hodgins. But he was taken and preferred blondes.

Angela's Dad was something. From what Booth could infer combined with what he knew of the rocker, his good natured attitude was only for his daughter. He felt bad for the artist who barely had a father growing up. Again he didn't have the greatest father either though.

Finally Booth got to go and smiled as he saw his son standing outside of the glass door waving at him. It truly breaks his heart to have him so close yet so far away. If only he could break out of here and go celebrate Christmas the way he wanted to.

Sadly the visits couldn't last forever and once everyone had gone the case had to be solved. Everyone is sitting together putting the facts together when Booth suddenly realized that Brennan hadn't had anyone come to visit her. He knew her parents were MIA, probably dead, but it made sense why she was such a scrooge. Maybe he could at least make Christmas special for her.

"Where was you wife Booth?" Brennan asks.

"She's away on business, "he sighs. "She isn't getting back for another three days."

Nobody speaks for a moment until Angela breaks the silence, "So that was your son? He's adorable. He even has your big forehead."

"Actually Booth's frontal bone is not much larger than the average one," Brennan says.

"Thanks Bones! See it's not too big Angela! But yeah that was Conner."

"I thought you said his name was Parker." Goodman says.

Booth smiles, "It is. His full name is Conner Parker Booth. We usually call him Parker though.

After that they return to the case and Booth is relieved once they find out the killer, motive, the works. He only wished he could have done more to help the victim's loved ones, but the crime was too old. Angela seemed to be on the same wavelength for she talked Brennan into finding Ivy Gillespie.

Later that night everyone, sans Brennan, was sitting on the couches upstairs drinking eggnog that Hodgins managed to get his hands on. Angela had succeeded in making the mood very festive and surprisingly Booth found himself to be having some fun.

Goodman seemed genuinely surprised at the charcoal sketch Booth drew of him as a superhero with Super Dad written on the top. He shrugged off everyone's astonished looks that he could draw. Out of everyone Angela seemed most impressed, but when she asked him questions about where he learned to draw like that he changed the topic. Drawing was a little painful for him.

Zach had given Booth the robot he had made. At first he was very confused, but after some explaining Booth couldn't have been happier. Parker was going to love it. He enthusiastically shook the young scientists hand when suddenly white fluff began to float down from the ceiling.

Everything about it pointed to snow, even though it must be fake because it couldn't snow inside. Zach lets some land on his hand and frowns, "This feels like snow, I don't get it."

"It was me," Angela smiles. "I thought we could have a white Christmas. Don't ask me how it seems to be snow. Brennan helped me on that front.

"That was very creative Ms. Montenegro," Goodman tells her.

"Actually it was Booth's idea. He just needed help."

"Well snow is just such a Christmas miracle!" he told them with a smile. Booth laid down almost perfectly content. If his family was here it would be perfect. He loved the snow and the miracles it brings with it. It snowed on his most amazing Christmas.

The next day everybody got the go ahead to leave. Booth couldn't have been happier at finally escaping the lab, but frowned once he saw Brennan. After offering her an invitation to join him for Chinese he leaves.

Booth wasn't surprised when he saw Brennan walk into the restaurant, nobody wanted to spend Christmas alone. "I don't get it Booth," she says. "Why is Christmas so important to you?"

"It's one of the best memories I have of my Dad and of my wife."

Before Brennan can say anything she turns as she hears a little voice scream Daddy and run into Booth's arms. Booth hugged his son and turned back to Brennan. "Bones this is my son Parker. Say hi bub."

He waves and Booth smiles as he feels his spine tingle and quiet footsteps come up behind him, "Hello my Angel."

"Buffy? I thought you weren't coming back from Scotland for a few more days."

"Come on Seeley you know me better than that. I'm from California I hate the cold. And Scotland is way cold at this time of year. Giles was sick of hearing me whine and Faith could handle the girls. Plus there wasn't any big bad. He knows how much spending Christmas with you means to me."

"I'm glad," he says and kisses her back.

"Oh Parker you have gifts at home from Aunt Willow and Uncle Xander and Grandpa and Auntie Dawn and Uncle Spike!"

He smiles and Booth turns to Brennan, "Bones this is my wife Buffy. Buffy this is my partner I was telling you about."

"Nice to meet you," Buffy says and shakes the brunettes hand.

"Likewise. What do you mean by a big bad and girls?"

"Well I'm head of an international private investigation firm called Angel Investigations and big bad is an inside joke. We also have a school called The Slayer and Watcher Society for troubled Girls."

"We should get going," Booth tells his family. "I'll catch you later Bones?"  
>"Sure," she says and watches the family leave.<p>

Booth wrapped around walks out of the restaurant with Parker in his arms and Buffy's arms around his waist and he was happy. This did turn out to be a great Christmas.

**So this was just a little one-shot I wrote during Christmas one year and found it as I was going through old files. Hope you liked it, I know it isn't good but I wrote it during History class last year, sooooooo. **


	2. Chapter 2

**The Mayor in the Airport**

Booth walked into the lab with his wife in tow. Holding hands and strutting into the Jeffersonian nobody would be aware that the FBI agent was carrying a file about a murder victim. He looked very exuberant and his demeanor was blissful instead of the somber and gloomy attitude most would have when they had depressing news.

All he could think about was the beautiful girl standing next to him. Everyone in the lab was looking at him as if he had suddenly grown giant wrinkles, golden eyes, and fangs. Just to be safe he went and glanced in the mirror, nope his face was just as smooth as the day before. It puzzled him why they would stare at him if he appeared as human as any of them. Usually all of their noses were pressed up in a pile of bones and he had to drag them away.

"Take a look at this," he tells them and throws it onto the table.

Four pairs of eyes look at it and Brennan frowns in confusion at what it was. The blond giggles, "Each circle shows were a body part was found at different parts of an airport."

"Los Angeles International, the pathologist said they were in really bad shape."

Brennan scans it while Angela looks at him, "Booth where are your manners? Introduce us to this bombshell."

She steps in front of him, "Ignore his rudeness, Seeley's social skills are atrocious. I'm Buffy Summers his wife."

"You sure, because if not I'm single," Hodgins butts in.

"Sorry Mr. Bug guy, Booth is the only guy for me."

"Why not go by Booth, most alpha males such as Booth would be upset if their spouses do not change their surname."

"Buffy Booth sounds awkward," she explains.

"Ms. Summers," Goodman says.

"Buffy," she butts in. "Sorry Ms. Summers makes me sound old."

"Buffy, I may not have known Agent Booth as long as you have, however his social skills are more than adequate."

"She's just joking around," Booth interrupts as he glares at his wife. "I used to be awkward around her."

"I can't go to Los Angeles; I have an aristocrat from the Age of Enlightment to authenticate."

Booth gives her an exasperated sigh and begins to convince her that a dead girl was a much more precedent issue. When she didn't budge the two of them turned to Goodman. Buffy found it quite funny how they two of them were arguing. If she didn't know any better she would have thought the two had s thing for each other.

"Booth can't just walk in and say pack your bags we're going to LA," Brennan whines and smacks her hands on the desk.

When Goodman starts to explain how homeland security wanted these cases solved Buffy snorts and every one turns towards her, "That isn't a problem. One of my best friends works for them and can get rid of the red tape."

"And a murderer is running around. I need you. Isn't that more important than a 300 year old dead guy."

"I disagree," the blonde says. "Some 300 year old guys are pretty special." Brennan looks hopeful until she continues, "But this is more important."

The anthropologist frowns as does Booth. Only for different reasons, Booth seemed annoyed at his wife, while Brennan was simply annoyed at the situation. It also reminded Booth why he left his wife at home.

In the end Brennan was forced to go with Booth. She was upset and extremely confused for as they stepped on the plane Buffy was with them. The couple had left their son in the capable hands of his Aunt Willow, who Brennan found out wasn't actually his aunt but Buffy's best friend.

Upon arriving in LA the three of them stepped into a car and as they drove down the road Booth sighed in content as he drove past palm trees. Buffy too smiled as she glanced at everything. "It's good to be home."

"Home?" Brennan questions.

"I grew up in LA and then in Sunnydale, the town which sank into the ground. Actually that's where I met Booth."

"I thought you grew up in Philly?"

"I did, I moved here later in life."

Brennan cocks her head to the side, "This car doesn't seem very FBI-y."

"Bones it's a 1967 Plymouth GTX. It's a classic and what doesn't make it more FBI like than that."

She only raised an eyebrow, "Well can I drive?"

"Hell no," Buffy snorted. "Seeley doesn't let anyone touch the car."

"Then I'll tell Cullen this is what you rented with the FBI's money."

"He owns it, but In DC is forced to drive the Suburban so he keeps it in LA with our friend William. Trust me he loves this car more than he love me, I'm not even allowed to drive it."

"Buffy you cannot drive for your life," Booth laughs.

She huffs and Booth goes back to arguing with his partner on who gets to drive the car. And Booth was getting aggravated with her. Whereas Brennan was one of the smartest people he had ever met, well for her age, she had no idea when to pick a fight or not. This was his car; no one else was allowed to touch it. However to both his and his wife's exacerbation she ended up driving.

"Turn here," he points to the left. "Head to the airport over there."

Thankfully she doesn't put up a fight and the car is silent as they drive towards the parking lot. Upon parking all three of them jump out of the car and head towards the back. Airplanes fly overhead and Booth shakes in fear. He would never admit it, but planes scared the shit out of him.

Buffy walked with more joy in her step than anyone else on the way to a crime scene. Booth leads them to a group in black suits and forensic outfits. They all flash their badges and a man in a suit goes to grab his supervisor.

"Why do you have a badge?" Brennan asks.

"PI," Buffy explains.

After a moment of waiting another suit comes up and puts out his hand as he looks down at a piece of paper, "I'm Special Agent Finn and I'm going to be your contact while you're here."

"Agent Finn, why was the body removed from the crime scene?" Brennan asks and the agent finally looks up.

"Buffy is that you?" he smiles and the two hug.

"Riley" she nods. "It's been too long. I thought you were still in South America with your wife doing that special ops stuff."

"Well Sam was expecting and we moved back here, we had a baby girl about a year ago named Anne."

"You named your child after my wife?" Booth growls, forgetting the civility he needed on the job.

"I see you haven't changed a bit An,"

"Riley," Buffy interrupts. "Did you even read your debriefing papers, Seeley is your partner."

"Sorry I never read who was coming. And before you say it I know Walsh would have my head for it, and I mean that quite literally."

"Back to the task at hand," Brennan announces, but her partner interrupts her.

"Yeah Riley, how come your daughter's name is Anne?"

"I've said it once and I'll say it again," Buffy sighs. "If you two keep showing signs of testosterone poisoning during this case I will personally put you both in the hospital."

Both men cower back as Brenna begins to give Buffy a once over with a very scientific gleam in her eye, "You cannot have testosterone poisoning from something like this, it is simply male dominance and I doubt you could put either of them in the hospital. Even someone like me who is a black belt couldn't damage both of them to that extent. As FBI they are superior training and obviously in size."

Riley nods and attempts to hide his chuckle, "I think she was kidding Dr. Brennan, although trust me Buffy can hold her own. Now back to the case, the body was removed because parts were visible to arriving flights."

"This was not dismemberment."

As the three begin to discuss the case Buffy sits there staring at the runway and only puts her head back up when Riley suggests it could be a coyote or something. Booth was intrigued by this too and when the anthropologist suggested there were no coyote in California the other three laughed.

"Your right Bones, they are more of a cowboy thing. But it could be some other type of wild animal," he says pointedly at Buffy and Riley.

"That's why I called Buffy," Agent Finn explained.

"Wait Buffy isn't an FBI agent and this is an FBI case."

"Yes but we've known each other for years and considering her specialties I figured she could handle the situation. But apparently my contacts didn't tell her it was me or else she wouldn't have brought her husband."  
>"He is obviously your ex Buffy."<p>

"Yeah, Seeley and I had a falling out for a few years and I dated Riley. Then when he left all of the reasons Seeley left were resolved."

The subject is dropped after that although the atmosphere remains tense as they head to look at the remains. Booth was the most agitated out of everyone. As Brennan examines the remains and comments on the horror of flesh he begins to brood.

It gets even worse back at the hotel as his partner, wife, and himself all sit around a computer and talk with the rest of the Jeffersonian. When they bring out the remains Booth shudders dramatically and feigns disgust. Buffy only laughs at him and he glares mockingly at her.

That was one drop back to this charade, pretending to be someone he wasn't. As much as he was Seeley Booth, some of the time he felt as if he was a totally different person. Time passes and they conclude that the body belonged to a female in her early twenties, and was killed by a carnivore, what Brennan suggests to be coyotes.

"No," Buffy speaks up. "This was a dog, but not of the coyote variety. I would say it was something along the lines of a hound of some sort."

"Ms. Summers," Hodgins protests. "this is my forte, so how come a pretty face like you thinks you know my job better."

"It's Buffy, and I'm a PI who has seen a lot. I've been doing this since I was 15 Hodgins. Trust me, my firm AI originated in LA and I know what I'm talking about."

"AI as in Angel Investigations," Goodman asks?

Booth nods to the screen, "Yes, and I helped her start it if you ask. Now back to the case, Buffy is probably right when it comes to these things. Now get back to work, we have to go meet up with Fish Boy."

"Fish boy," Angela raises her eyebrows.

"The Agent we are working with here used to be Buffy's lover," Brennan explains. Before anyone can respond Booth quickly hangs up and heads to the car to go meet with Finn.

HE loved his partner, honestly, but sometimes she was too much to bear. It wasn't his fault that he was forced to LA leaving Buffy in the hands of Riley. Well it was, but it was his destiny more than anything.

Riley ends up leading them to a doctor, plastic surgeon to be exact. And due to that become stuck listening to Brennan rant about how a 'boob doctor' wasn't even a real doctor. Both men found this rude, while Buffy could only laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

After many interviews and more ignorance on Hollywood life and prostituted by Brennan they end up talking to a prostitute service and after Riley leaves for the night Booth ends up ordering a prostitute to their hotel room. The anger of this act was directed from both Brennan and Buffy. Brennan simply found it absurd and horrible that the act came from her phone. Buffy was pissed for obvious reasons and began to recall that this was a Faith repeat. Not wanting to argue with his wife, especially over something trivial such as Faith he kept his mouth shut until the hooker, Leslie, came into their room.

They began to talk to her and Brennan was once again confused. This time because the hookers wanted to be celebrities. As Buffy explained how people came to LA for that reason, Booth automatically began to think of Cordelia and how much this victim resembled her.

After that point the case began to go from awkward to unbearable. Brennan ended up in an argument with the producer, Booth was confronted by Riley, and Buffy came back to the hotel one night covered in slime. Brennan was smart and it took a lot of effort to convince her that the slime was from the sewers where Buffy was working on a case.

Everything came to a head as they confronted the latest lead, a doctor named Henry Atlas on Rodeo Drive. Riley was taking care of paper work, leaving the three out of town people to solve the case on their own. Not even a second after walking into an office where Atlas was waiting for them both Buffy and Booth frowned and automatically tensed. They wanted to say something badly, but couldn't without making Brennan suspicious.

"Dr. Atlas," Booth seethed.

"May I help you," he answers sweetly and pulls his hand away as Booth tries to shake it. "Terribly sorry, but I'm afraid of germs.

"I bet you are," Buffy scoffs. "We were wondering if you treated a specific girl."

"I need to see a warrant.

"You don't need a warrant," she growls.

"Buffy I may be new to this, but I'm afraid you do."  
>"See Buffy is it," Atlas smiles. "You need a warrant."<p>

Booth examines the walls and stops when he sees a surgical utensil, "Fine, you're under arrest for murder."

He looks appalled, "What do you mean?"

"That tool on the wall was used to kill your client Susan," Brennan explains.

"You were having a relationship with her, just sex, and when she wanted more you killed her," Buffy finishes. "But I have no idea why someone would want to marry someone as old as you."

"I think your husband, I see the ring, is older than me. Although I can see how you two ended up together."

Thankfully Brennan ignores that, "Explain the coyotes Booth."

"Using your black market connections, you got for arguments sake hounds to clean up your mess. Brennan can you call Finn and get him down here."

Surprisingly she puts up no quarrel about it and leaves the room, something Booth was happy about.

"How the hell are you alive," Buffy spits out. "Last time I checked we blew your slimly ass up."

He just laughs, "And last time I checked your husband was dead too. Let's just say you aren't as good of a killer as you thought you were."

"Tell me where the hellhounds are," Booth asks.

The doctor refuses to answer; however before they can ask any more questions Brennan returns with an astonishingly quick Riley, he explains that he was in the neighborhood. As they handcuff the doctor Booth notices Buffy fuming and goes over and rubs circles on her arms to calm him down,

Before Riley leaves with him Buffy speaks up, "Riley this guy belongs in the _special _section of jail. You know the one."

He nods in understanding and takes Atlas away.

The next day as the three of them pack Booth gazes out at the city, remembering the years he spent here and quickly trying to get it out of his head.

When they walk into the Jeffersonian Booth is in a much better mood, being back in DC and all. Plus seeing his son even after only being gone a few days was great.

"You know," Hodgins says as they all sit and have drinks when they return, "Next time I may have to go with you two on your out of town cases."

"Why?" Buffy asks, who had decided to join them as an attempt to meet Booth's coworkers.

"For one thing, LA, hot girls. And second I haven't gone since all that government conspiracy stuff a few years ago. With the days of darkness and utopia shit then the whole uprising apocalypse jazz they were talking about. It was obviously a terrorist attack."

Booth and Buffy glance at each other and laugh dryly in agreement as they both take a long sip of whisky.


	3. Chapter 3

The Superhero in the Jeffersonian

Booth tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for Brennan to tell him if this was a suicide or a murder. He was more on edge than usual and admitted it. Cullen was going to have his head if he didn't solve this case in a timely manner. And on top of that Buffy and Parker were supposed to be arriving home from an impromptu trip to Scotland tomorrow and he wasn't good with being away from them. Buffy had gotten a call about some demon problem and everyone wanted to see Parker so he had gone too.

"It's Warren Granger, age 17," he announces later that day as he and Bones pull up to the Granger residence.

"Looks like every other house in the neighborhood, " Bones points out

"Every family has its secrets, Bones," he replies dryly and Brennan looks at him strangely, more than likely for the way he said that. But he couldn't help it, he more than anyone knew that a family could hide a lot and that the surface never showed the truth.

It was kind of a good thing really, how oblivious people could be. He really didn't want any of his neighbors to start coming at him or his family with crossbows and torches. That was his past, honestly. And it wouldn't help Parker make friends if the other parents knew that his parents' date nights took in cemeteries and not at the cinema. It probably was also a good thing Parker's friends didn't know that he knew how to fire a gun, which might not go over well with his teacher either.

Inside Warren's room Booth couldn't help but look upon the comic collection in awe. Even Bones' teasing wouldn't ruin the moment for him. Living on the brink of society for a century taught him to appreciate the finer things of the human world, and that included comics. Without human or demon interacting for that long the brooding vampire had become found of comics. And now even as a human with a job, friends, and a family he couldn't help but love comics.

Later back at the lab everyone was sitting and discussing what they knew so far. And the more they dug up about this case the more upsetting it became. This boy reminded Booth far too much of himself, a loner trying to fit in and save the world. He tried to rile Bones up, saying he was more like her, but what was he supposed to say? Everyone here thought he was a jock who had the ultimate high school experience. Hell he didn't ever even go to high school! The army part could correlate with the boy slightly, trying to save the innocents and all; plus he actually did do that when he first became human! But really his almost friends wouldn't understand anything, so instead he teased his partner relentlessly.

Before his brood session continued any longer he smiled as his wife walked into the lab, "Hello everybody."

"Hey Buffy," they coursed back while Bones just stared at her.

"What are you doing here Buffy? I did not realize you were working on the case."

"I wasn't," she tells them. "I didn't realize there was a case. Parker and I just got back from Scotland and decided to drop in since Parker missed his Daddy so much. Parker say hi"

Just then a small boy with dirty blonde hair and dark brown eyes steps around his Mother and steps in between his two parents, "Hi," he waves.

Angela puts a hand to her heart, "He's so cute. How old are you buddy?"

"Which age do I say Daddy?" he asks.

"He's 5," Booth explains. "Sometimes he likes to think he's older though."

The adults all nod at the explanation. "So what's the sitch?"

"Dead teenager, pushed off of a building, found in some costume, loner, parents isolated him, and apparently he wrote comics staring himself," Angela tells the blonde.

"How'd he die?"

Nobody bated an eye at the questions she was asking. Buffy and Booth had accompanied the squints to a nearby bar a few times and by now they all understood that it was professional curiosity and that she was a PI. "Well we're still examining the remains and I don't feel comfortable talking about it in front of your son," Zach says uncomfortably.

"Actually," Brennan interrupts. "Parker probably hears about cases on a regular basis given his parents careers. And it isn't a bad idea for a child to grow up knowing how harsh the world can be."

Booth wants to laugh at the thought of Parker not knowing about life. Hell he'd tried his hardest to give his son a new life, twice, but both times he seemed to find out anyway and he had given up. Buffy giggles slightly at Brennan's exclamation and nods in agreement before excusing herself since she just arrived back into the country and all.

As everybody gets back to work they also talk about how cute little Parker was. Being the Father that he was Booth just went along with everything they said and even added in a story or two of him when he was younger.

The next day Booth returns to the Jeffersonian with his wife in tow. As they walk into Angela's office everybody stares at Buffy, "What I don't have horns do I? Because I was really careful last night and I know for a fact I didn't get infected again."

"Sexually transmitted diseases don't give you horns," Brennan says.

"They better not or else who would I sleep with besides demon chicks," Hodgins whispers and Booth exchanges a meaningful look with his wife. Noticing their look he changes the subject, "What are you doing back Buffy?'

"I'm helping with the case."

"If you don't mind me asking how do you keep getting hired for the cases your husband works on." Goodman asks.

"Friends in high places," she tells them and the squints all begin to think something along the lines of how the mystery of Buffy Summers continues to deepen. "And please don't stop on my account."

"Can you really pull all that information from a comic book?" Angela wonders

" Absolutely. All writers reveal more of themselves than they intend on every page," Goodman answers. "

" You know I gotta tell you, I never bought all that English 101 stuff. Sometimes a river is just a river," Booth tells them."

" All due respect, but my writing, for example, is pure fiction."

"Dr .Brennan, I fear you reveal much more of your worldview in your writing than you realize."

"Such as?"

"Such as "Archaeologists make good administrators because they enjoy tedium"'.

Such as "Artists are doomed to a life of loneliness because they aren't able to think beyond instant gratification"'

"Such as some people use their looks to get everything they want and that Private Investigators will never be happy because they do not work well with others."

"Such as, you know, F.B.I. guys are hot, and Angela here wants to have sex with me."

"Yep," Angela agrees.

"Seeley," Buffy narrows her eyes dangerously. "And to think that I considered you a friend Angela, god you're the second good friend of mine to want to sleep with him!"

"I thought that before I knew about you sweetie. And god Booth who knew you were such a stud. What friend are we talking about."

"I think Buffy's discussing Faith, but let's get back to the case," he rolls his eyes.

"And Cordelia, she was a friend near the end who you fell in love with!"

"This isn't a productive use of my time," Brennan interjects. "I am going to go look at the body again."

Once again Booth was starting to brood more and more over the case. After talking to the "Blue-Minnow" about the deceased he could easily begin to picture the kid. Only now more so than himself he could see his son in him. Someone outside of society with lots of issues and tries to protect the world. It pained him to think about Conner, even though Conner did live under the same roof.

When Conner had regained his memories even after the deal was struck and decided against pursuing his own dreams in order to fight in the final battle he had died. But due to his dedication and character the Powers decided to intervene in more than just restoring his humanity. Feeling pitiful they had restored Conner to his baby self before Wesley had stolen the child. It was then that they also revealed that he was actually conceived on the day that wasn't and Darla was nothing but a surrogate.

Neither he nor Buffy could rename him, it wouldn't feel right, but they also couldn't call him Conner, because for all intents and purposes it wasn't Conner. Thus the beautiful suggestion by Illyria to call him by a middle name, Parker.

All these thoughts just caused him to brood more. Ever since the strange encounter with the Mayor Booth was slipping farther back into his Angel ways and thinking about his past more and more. In five years he had really gotten used to his new life with Buffy. They managed to be normal and still patrol. Have a child and still maintain everything. Have new lives and still stay connected with Buffy's slayer side. But since the mayor he was slipping and people were starting to suspect something amiss.

While at the bar with the squints he had seen a vampire flirting with a guy and without thinking went and flirted with her as he used to. Of course Buffy had stepped in and saved him before the questions came, but he couldn't afford the slipups. Damn the slimy snake! He had never liked the son of a bitch. He was part of the reason he had left Sunnydale and was just a jerk,

"Earth to Angel," a confused Brennan says as she waves her hand in front of her partner's face.

"What did you call me?" Booth asked and everyone in the room could sense his temper about to flare. He was getting fed up with Buffy acting like a kid when she was an adult. Yes the past year had been horrible even before the mayor and she regressed in times of pain, but people were going to start to figure their secret out. He'd have to have a talk with her later.

"Buffy told us to call you that or Liam and it would get your attention. You were spacing out for a good five minutes buddy. And please don't explain the whole Angel and Liam thing. I don't need to know about your kinky sex lives, I mean unless you're willing to share," Angela trails off.

"How about we get back to work," he growls, more at his wife than at the artist.

"Warren Granger on the night he died, wearing his costume." The Angelatron burst to life and the four look at it intently.

"Okay. Start the sequence. Cause of death was a severed spinal cord. We can rule out Abigail Zealy as the killer."

"How do you figure? She has motive," Buffy reminds them.

"Abigail doesn't have enough strength to sever Warren's spinal cord with one blow."

"What about his stepdad? Or the, uh, other kids at the comic shop? " Booth asks.

"Well, the physicality of the murderer is between 5'10" and 6'1"... I'd say yes to them all, depending on the weapon."

"What could he have done to make somebody so angry at him?"

"My bet is more on the comic nerds than the step-dad," Buffy tells them. "According to my friend, co-worker or whatever Andrew it is entirely plausible. He's kind of a comic dork himself, well that's an understatement. See he met his two best friends Jonathon and Warren at one of these comic things and to cut a long story full of boring details he told me short, people there are whack. Apparently some are simply in it for fun, but a lot of others go and use it as a way of life. Andrew and his two friends actually decided the games were too mundane and started committing, um, for the lack of a better word felonies to make it reality."

"That's how they met?" Booth laughs. "Comic books? And to think you ever found them formidable?"

"I got them eventually. Okay so it was Darth Willow who started it, but I tracked them down too," Buffy humphs.

"Zack's cleaning the bones now. Maybe we'll find something that we've missed," Brennan hopes.

She leaves towards the lab and Booth and Buffy head towards the Hoover building to go and dig up some dirt on the suspects. The entire time Booth was teasing his wife about almost being killed by a bunch of comic nerds. Buffy was whining about having people underestimate small girls and their strength and cursing out Brennan. On any given day both would defend the conflicting opinion, but they both knew better today. It was easier to bitch and laugh about everyday occurrences than your past coming and catching up to you.

Neither party, science and law, found anything of interest. The case was becoming stranger and stranger as it continued. It was also becoming more and more personal for the FBI agent. From the looks of it Warren had no life, he was invisible, something he knew all too well.

They ended up walking into a bowling alley where the victim worked. "You smell that?"

"Yes, I do."

"You know what that is, Bones?"

"Wax, popcorn. Feet, deodorant. "

"That is America, Bones. "

"Keep your bowling ball in the car?"

"Of course he did," Buffy laughs. "Knowing him he figured we'd ask a few questions and then bowl a few frames. Playing sports is a great way to take the edge off of…"

"This is not a sport," Brennan says

"How do you figure?" Booth asks, clearly annoyed.

"There's no physical benefit. So it's really like golf. It's not a sport, it's an activity."

"You know Brennan, sometimes it's easier to make friends when you aren't always pissing them off," Buffy offers as they walk away from the lanes. "Trust me on that."

"Yeah. Sorry. Are you good at this... sport?"

"Well, my average was over 200, less than 2 opens per game. One match I had 211 strikes out of 431 shots. 29 opens in 39 games. "

"What does that mean?"

"Means I won some bowling awards."

"Understatement much, trust me Brennan you do not want to get in the way of Seeley and his bowling. When he, um, oh got back from the military he used his skills to bowl and it helped calm him down. Of course I beat him most of the time."

"I won the Marshall H. Dixon Award for my paper on George John Romanes and physiological selection. That is also an award."

"My God, it's like we live in parallel universes!"

"Sorry baby, but this is more of parallel lives more so than parallel worlds."

He thinks about it for a moment, "True," he sighs. "Parallel universes can get tricky anyway."

Brennan stares at the couple whom had disappeared into their own conversations. She did tuck the conversation into the back of her brain. Their behavior baffled her more than most and she wanted to know why.

In the end they didn't get the chance to bowl after the interrogation for they had to hurry to interrogate the victim's parents again. Unlike the first one they found this interrogation to be much more informational. Warren was sick as a child and that explained a lot of what was going on with him. They also had no clue that he was sick once again. The young boy had been hiding his pain from the world.

"You told her that her son didn't tell her about being sick to make her feel better," Brennan says in confusion and Booth nods. "You don't really believe that. You told her to make her feel better?"

"It would have hurt her too much to know the truth," Buffy sighs.

"So you just did what you said people don't do. I wonder why he didn't tell his mother.

"Well, maybe he was all caught up in the romance of being a dying superhero. You know, adolescent angst, all that."

"What do you think Buffy?" Brennan asks and Booth and Buffy smiled at one another, glad that Brennan was behaving.

"I think the boy was looking to be a man. All on his own without any help. He was doing the best that he could."

"Heroes don't whine about being sick.

"Something like that," Booth says cryptically knowing all too well what it was like to be a hero and hide your true feelings.

"Poor kid," Buffy adds. "To be in that position must be horrible." She takes a deep calming breath and Booth goes over and wraps an arm around her as Hodgins, Angela, and Goodman walk in.

"Do they know about the leukemia?" Hodgins wonders

"No. He kept it a secret."

"Tough guy, huh?"

"You were right on before about the kid knowing he was facing imminent death. This changes motivation," Buffy tells him.

"The killer's motivation?"

"No. Warren Granger's," Angela guesses and Booth and Buffy nod as if they were one.

"You think he was emboldened by the knowledge he was going to die. "

"He went looking for a fight," Goodman explains.

"No," Buffy shakes her head. "He was looking for a way to make a difference before he died."

Brennan gives her a questioning look, "Why would you imagine that."

Buffy takes a minute and it seemed as if she was having trouble talking about it, but Booth knew she was coming up with a believable story. "It's what anyone who's been in that circumstance does," she answers cryptically.

Nobody knew what to say and it's quiet for a moment until everyone starts discussing the case once again. It took them some time to get there but eventually everyone was on the same page. Warren Granger had been out looking for the Twisted. The mystery was still who the Opalescence was and that conversation was put on hold once Brennan came to the realization that Warren did not draw the comics, instead the artist was the comic store owner.

Buffy sat this investigation out in order to go to Parker's soccer practice and look at some of her own firm's cases. Brennan was investigating the bones again and that left Booth by himself to talk to Stew Ellis.

Booth really couldn't stand Stew Ellis. The guy was agitating and did not like answering the questions. To the FBI agent he seemed a little too defensive at every question he answered. The guy was also a little weasel. All in all it wasn't a very fun questioning and it left him more frustrated than anything.

The only information he even got was that Ellis was the artist and that the two had artistic differences. Well that and that he had a crush for the girl who was pining for Warren. However even with a motive it was apparent that he did not commit the murder. That's what his gut told him at least and he hadn't survived over two and a half centuries by ignoring his gut. All that time had also taught him a little bit about people, and Stew was not a killer.

Back at the lab he went straight to Brennan who was in the middle of some experiment with the bone fragment on the deceased that did not belong to him. Apparently the bone could give them a big insight as to who the killer was. That was always a good thing.

They discussed the case for a few minutes until Brennan came out of the blue and asked, "You said before that Warren reminded you of me. You think I'm just like him, that he hid from life by immersing himself in a fantasy world where he fought crime. And I do the same thing, only I don't have superpowers. I... I have science."

He was at a loss for words; he didn't mean it when he said that. It was only to throw them off his scent and it came back to bite him. "No, Bones. You do fight crime. It's not a fantasy. As far as any normal person is concerned, you do have superpowers."

Booth thought that was a good enough answer, it was true. However based on the definition she gave of Warren Granger it made him with his need to do good to redeem his soul, his wife with a death prophecy over her head, and his son with his strange upcoming, all too much like the kid. Possibly even more than he thought before.

"You're just saying that to me," she accuses, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"No I did not!"

"Yes, you do. You lied to Warren Granger's mother to make her feel better. That seems to be your superpower."

He had to laugh a little bit at that, "Look. This piece of bone you're analyzing- How did he get lodged in Warren Granger's neck?"

She goes on and on about that and once they figure out that they had to go back to the bowling alley and Booth praises her Brennan turns around and tells him that it was because he wasn't an anthropologist with superpowers.

The bowling alley turned out to be a bust, the owner wouldn't give them anything. And the Jeffersonian had yet to come up with any hardcore evidence that would get them a warrant. It was the politics and law of the system that made him realize his old life wasn't complicated. If he wanted to do something he just did it.

To get the warrant they needed to find the weapon. But so far the Angelatron couldn't find anything. As they started to figure it out Buffy walks in and gives Booth a quick kiss.

"How's Parker?" he asks.

"He scored a goal when they scrimmaged," she smiles.

Brennan gives he a strange look, "I thought you had a case to work on?"

She shrugs, "I did what I could and sent the info onto the people in Europe. Then the case that is more local can't be taken care of until later today." Buffy gives Booth a look and he nods knowingly. "So what did I miss?"

They fill her in, "Okay. So Warren's former boss is the Twisted, and the boss's wife is the Opalescence."

Her husband groans, "We still need more concrete information."

Zach does bring much needed news with the info from the bone, but they were still lacking a weapon to even look for.

"Wait. You said that in books you could find the real-world version," Brennan asks

"Yeah. Well, I mean, if you know you, it's pretty obvious," Booth tells her.

" Well, give me an example."

"Okay. Well, in your book, your partner's a former Olympic boxer who graduated from Harvard and spoke six different languages. In real life, you got me."

"So what you're saying is that reality falls far, far short of the fictional."

"Yeah. Thanks a lot, Bones."

"Warren Granger's spinal cord was severed by something sharp, but not a knife," Buffy states to ease the tension

"Okay. If it wasn't a knife, what was it?"

"The closest match I could find would be a corkscrew or a Tibetan skull knife but neither of them explain how foreign bone was left lodged in the vertebrae."

"Pull up Citizen 14's weapon thing," Brennan says

"I thought that was a boomerang thing, like a sonic gun," Buffy frowns.

"A laser cutlass. That thing that allowed him to hear through walls."

"we're looking for something that has a drabber, more banal version in the real world," Brennan tells them.

"Well, why would he be killed by his own weapon?" Angela tilts her head in confusion.

"Well, because he probably had it on him the night he decided to confront Ted McGruder," Booth suggests as pictures of the weapons are put up.

Angela gestures to the machine, "Citizen 14's arsenal."

Brennan points to one of the weapons, "What's that?"

"That's his main weapon. It's a three-sided throwing knife that returns to him. But none of them make the wound that resemble the one that severed Warren's spinal cord," Angela answers.

"It's just an idea."

" Brennan," Buffy starts

"No. I- I fell into the exact thing that I warned your husband about, developing too many hypotheses not grounded in fact."

"No. Brennan, I know exactly which drab real-world thing was used to murder Warren Granger."

The case was relatively simple after that. Once it was proven that ted hurt his arm they were able to make the arrest. It was what came after that was difficult. The case hit Booth a little too close to his heart. He didn't make a habit of going to funerals of the victims of his cases, but he felt the urge to in this case.

So he set out with his family in tow and went to watch the funeral. Neither he nor Buffy shed a tear. They had cried so many of them that it was hard to cry anymore. Parker did shed a tear or two though. Death was still a relatively new concept to him and even though he never knew the boy being laid to rest his parents had told him about death and it saddened him.

Once the crowd had dissipated Booth went up to the casket and put a copy of the Citizen 14 on it so even in death it could be a part of Warren Granger's life.

With that they left the graveyard before nighttime fell for fear of having Parker run into some unsavory guests.

Sorry for the wait, I've been swamped with school work.


End file.
